Respirator with removable cartridge



Jan. 8, 1963 J. N. MATHESON RESPIRATOR WITH REMOVABLE CARTRIDGE Filed May 5. 1961 INVENTOR.

JAMES N. MATHESON BY ATTORNEYS 3,072,l 19 Patented Jan. 8, 1963 United States Patent Qilice 3 072,119 RESPIRATR WITH REMOVABLE CARTRIDGE James N. Matheson, Warwick, Rl., assignor to Welsh Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Rhode Island Filed May 5, 1961, Ser. No. 108,025 3 Claims. (Cl. 12S-146) This invention relates to a respirator of the type which will have a removable cartridge attached.

Heretofore, when a removable cartridge has been at tached to a respirator,- care had to be taken to provide a good seal between the cartridge and the body portion of the respirator which covered the nose and mouth, and some complexity was often involved in the provision of such a seal.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a simple arrangement by which a seal may be made between the cartridge and the body portion of the respirator which covers the nose and mouth.

Another object of this invention is to provide a relatively stiff part carried by the cartridge to embrace the entire opening in the body part with some means to cause this embracing portion of the cartridge to indent and provide an effective seal between the two parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement so that the cartridge may be attached to the body part by threaded means which upon being brought into snug relation with the body part provides a seal.

Another object of the invention is to provide a removable part in the body which may be assembled therewith in a manner to prevent rotation and which may be interchanged as desired.

Another object of the invention is to protect the threads on the outer surface of this removable part when assembled with the body to receive the lter cartridge With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the respirator complete;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view partly in section, the section being a vertical section substantially on line 2 2 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmental face view showing the opening in the body member with its radially extending notches;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmental view of the seal whch is provided between the cartridge and the body; an

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the tubular member which is removably positioned in the opening in the body member.

In proceeding with this invention, the body member is formed of a rather soft resilient material which will snugly t over the face and mouth of the wearer and seal against the face. An opening is provided in a recessed portion of the front wall of this member, and a relatively stiller tubular member passes through this opening and is held against rotation. This member has a flange at its inner end which extends over the inner marginal surface about the opening and is threaded on the outer surface of the portion which extends into the recess of the front wall of the body member. The cartridge is provided with a boss of relatively stiff material similar to the flanged member, which boss extends therefrom and isV internally threaded to engage the threads of this tubular member while its edge is beveled so that it will engage the marginal surface of the front wall about the opening and 2 indent the softer surface of the body member so as to provide a good seal therewith. Thus the soft body member has a relatively stiff tubular member and a relatively stiff cartridge which is assembled therewith while tightly binding the softer body member about the opening which provides an inlet for the air.

With reference to the drawings, 10 designates generally the body member which is formed of some material that is relatively soft and pliable,V such as rubber or a plastic Ysuch as polyethylene. The rear edge l11 of the body is of a shape to conform generally to the :face of the user and is suiciently soft so that when pulled against the face of the user by the heads straps 12 and 13 on either side of the body member 10, a snug engagement will be had with' the face to prevent air from entering around the edge 11. `This body member also is provided with a f-rontwall 14 which is recessed as at 40 with side walls 41 and a bottom wall 28 having an opening 15 therein with the radially extending notches 16 at a plurality of locations, there being four such notches shown in FIG- URE 3. This opening 15 provides for the entrance of air into the respirator.

A tubular member designated generally 16 and shown by itself in FIGURE 5 comprises a cylindrical wall 17 (see also FIGURE 4) of a size to pass through and snugly engage the edge of opening 15. Outwardly eX- tending ribs 18 on this wall enter the notches 16 and prevent the cylindrical tubular member from rotating in the opening 15. A flange 19 extends outwardly from the cylindrical tubular portion 17 and has one surface thereof engaging the marginal edge of the opening 15 and extending completely about that opening. The portion forwardly of the recess wall 28 and beyond its outer surface is threaded as at 20. These threads extend outwardly from the cylindrical surface 17 so as to cause the area between the threads 20 and llange 19 of the outer surface to appear as a recess 21 from which the ribs 18 extend. A recess in the front wall 14 surrounds and serves to protect the threads 20 from damage.

A cartridge 22 having some filtering material therein at 23 which rnay vary in accordance with the particular use which the user is to perform is provided with an integral rearwardly extending boss 24 which is stiffer than the body 10 and which has internal threads 2S of a character to threadingly engage the threads 20 on the outer surface of the tubular member 16. The inner end of this boss is beveled as at 26 to provide a narrow edge 27 at its outer periphery so that as this boss is screwed onto the tubular member 1'6, it will engage the softer material of wall 28 and indent itself into this softer material as seen in the enlarged section in FIGURE 4 and will force this material 28 against the ange 19 which backs up this marginal portion 28 about the opening 15 so as to provide a snug airtight joint between the cartridge and the body member upon which it is assembled. From time to time it will be necessary to remove and exchange the cartridge, wh1ch may readily be done and yet the seal may be provided.

On the inner end of the tubular member 16 there is an integrally molded stud designated 30 which has an enlarged head 31 projecting radially therefrom. A very thin liexible valve 32 of sheet material such as rubber has an opemng which may stretch over the head 31 of the pin 30 so as to lie across the flat surface 33 of the tubular member 16 and lie against the bars 34 which extend diametrically across the opening and have an enlarged portion 35 from which the pin projects.

A1r is drawn in through openings 39 in the cartridge 22 through the opening 15 and breathing will cause this a1r to flex the valve 32 so that it easily enters and having been filtered by the cartridge is in the purer state ready to breathe. Exhalation from the respirator passes out -through opening 36 in the lower wall 37 of the respirator by a valve similar to that just described but reversely located or some valve which will function equally as well.

IV claim:

1. A respirator to cover the nose and mouth comprising a body member having a front wall with an opening therein, a tubular member of stiffer material of substantially the same shape and size as said opening extending through said opening and provided with a flange extend- Qing over and contactingthe inner marginal surface of the `frot`wa11 about said opening, said member having an exteriorly threaded portion beyond said opening, a cartridge having a boss with ran inwardly beveled end pro- 'viding a narrow outer peripheral edge engaging the outer marginal surface of said opening spaced-from said opening and a threaded portion engaging the threads on said member, whereby upon rotation of said cartridge, said marginal edge of the front wall is bound between the inwardly beveled end of the boss and said ange.

2. A respirator as in claim 1 wherein the edge of said opening and said tubular member have intertting parts References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,856,879 Lufkin May 3, 1932 2,202,049 Fitzgerald May 28, 1940 2,205,368 Whipple a June 18, 1940 2,284,949 Cover June 2, 1942 2,416,411 Sharbaugh et al. Feb. 25, 1947 2,580,818 Mundy et al. Ian. 1, 1952 2,772,017 Rieke Nov. 27, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 195,783 Switzerland May 2, 1938 864,189 France Jan. 13, 1941 

1. A RESPIRATOR TO COVER THE NOSE AND MOUTH COMPRISING A BODY MEMBER HAVING A FRONT WALL WITH AN OPENING THEREIN, A TUBULAR MEMBER OF STIFFER MATERIAL OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME SHAPE AND SIZE AS SAID OPENING EXTENDING THROUGH SAID OPENING AND PROVIDED WITH A FLANGE EXTENDING OVER AND CONTACTING THE INNER MARGINAL SURFACE OF THE FRONT WALL ABOUT SAID OPENING, SAID MEMBER HAVING AN EXTERIORLY THREADED PORTION BEYOND SAID OPENING, A CARTRIDGE HAVING A BOSS WITH AN INWARDLY BEVELED END PROVIDING A NARROW OUTER PERIPHERAL EDGE ENGAGING THE OUTER MARGINAL SURFACE OF SAID OPENING SPACED-FROM SAID OPENING AND A THREADED PORTION ENGAGING THE THREADS ON SAID MEMBER, WHEREBY UPON ROTATION OF SAID CARTRIDGE, SAID MARGINAL EDGE OF THE FRONT WALL IS BOUND BETWEEN THE INWARDLY BEVELED END OF THE BOSS AND SAID FLANGE. 